Art Model Collective is 2 years old!

By Manko

This MayDay Art Model Collective turned two years old!

It’s a challenge to describe how brilliant it feels to see the love project of your deepest sentiment grow and flourish so successfully in two short years. Due are the heartfelt thanks to our supporters, collaborators, accommodators, assistants, comrades and everyone who found us curious and worthy to capture in their sketchbooks, canvases, monoprints; in charcoal, ink, oil, wire, iPads; and most importantly, we thank our artists for casting their keen eyes onto our efforts to create the best experience of life drawing that we, as life models, would bring true passion to create – and break our backs and necks – to bring to London’s flourishing and diverse life drawing scene.

Art Model Collective began as a life drawing revolution movement that brings the profit straight to the models rather than organisers. Therefore, as extremely hard-working artists models, we specifically chose to celebrate the International Workers Day aspect of 1 May.

Art Model Collective: Manko and Carla, Rosie Riveter tribute

One of our inspirations for the celebratory session was the legendary American image of “Rosie The Riveter”, arguably the most feminist picture in the history of feminism.

Check out this article about the woman behind the iconic poster. It’s wonderfully telling about our favourite topic, which we plan to address in the future AMC endeavours – the women as subject in arts:

“In 1942, a photographer snapped a picture of then 20-year-old Naomi Parker-Fraley, wearing her favorite red and white polka dot bandana while she worked on a turret lathe at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, California.

After the photo was first taken, it appeared in newspapers and magazines across the country. “I even got fan mail!” she recalls with a laugh. It also caught the eye of J. Howard Miller, the artist who designed the famous WWII-era “We can do it!” Rosie poster.

Parker-Fraley didn’t realize the picture had been misattributed until 2009, when she visited the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park. There, she saw an exhibit displaying her photograph as the poster’s inspiration but the wrong name was listed in the caption. “I couldn’t believe it because it was me in the photo, but there was somebody else’s name in the caption,” she remembers.”

The birthday session was laden with cakes, revolutionary soundtracks, presents and “happy birthday” song echoing through the Underdog Gallery!

One of Art Model Collective ambitions it to bring the proper accreditation to the women featured in the works of art (so please credit us, as we always do with the artists we passionately promote on our social media).